Make the Perfect Queso for Game Night or Taco Tuesday

I’ll admit, I was a little worried about investing in fondue pots for fear we would only use them once a year. We made fondue for dinner last night for the first time, and it was a big hit. Tonight the plan was tacos. On the way to the store to get taco shells, I thought – why not make some queso to add to the yumminess? I’ll get double the use from my fondue pot AND have a chance to perfect a recipe before the big game night celebration.

I will have to say, this queso was a big hit. My husband ate two ginormous helpings, and he is not the easiest to please when it come to new culinary endeavors. I went over to the pot to snag one last chip after dinner was over and discovered an empty pot – exactly what every cook wants to see when she serves queso!

When I got to the store, I discovered about twenty different kinds of queso cheese. My sisters only have two options of queso cheese at their store and the labels are in English. These labels were in Spanish. I picked the one for melting and that turned out to be perfect. Whether your labels are in English or Spanish – look for a Mexican Melting Cheese and you should be good to go. That’s what makes the perfect queso perfect!

I wanted this queso to have plenty of flavor, so first I sautéed three tablespoons of red onions, 2 tablespoons of green onions, and 1 heaping tablespoon of minced garlic in my Cuisenart Fondue Pot. Of course, we also had to have guacamole, so I just chopped and diced everything I needed (of red onions and green onions) for both recipes at once. Then I added 1 jar of mild Rotel – drained (tomatoes and green chilis in a can) and stirred that for a while. Once it was cooked down a bit, I added about six ounces of heavy whipping cream which was all I had left in the fridge.

I brought that all to an “almost boil” and then lowered the heat and started whisking in cheese with a fork. I had a 1 pound bag of the melting cheese, already shredded. I added small amounts of cheese until I had the perfect dipping consistency, and used about 2/3 of the bag. My older sons were grating cheddar at the time and threw in three tiny little chunks of cheddar, which influenced the color of this queso but really isn’t recommended! (just in case the pictures made you wonder!)

Although we loved this queso as it was, in the end we decided it didn’t quite have enough flavor or spice so next time I will sauté a real chili or two in with the onions and garlic and then use better quality canned tomatoes.

Make the Perfect Queso for Game Night or Taco Tuesday

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• Author: Amy Blevins
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: 7 people 1x

Ingredients

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• 1 Tablespoon Butter,
• 3 Tablespoons Diced Red Onion
• 3 Green Onions, Diced
• 1 Tablespoon Minced Garlic (Heaping)
• 1–2 Chili, Roasted and Diced (Use jalepeno or serrano or whatever you like. Remove the seeds unless you like extra heat.)
• 6 ounces Diced, Canned Tomatoes, Drained
• 6 Ounces Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1 pound Mexican melting cheese (Use only as much as needed)

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Instructions

1. Melt the butter in your fondue pot or sauce pan.
2. Add the diced onions, garlic, and chilis and sauté.
3. Add the drained canned tomatoes and stir, cooking down any liquid.
4. Add the heavy whipping cream, stir and bring to an “almost” boil.
5. Turn down the heat slightly and add the cheese a little at a time, stirring briskly until each bit is melted before adding more. Keep adding cheese until your queso is the perfect dipping consistency. About 2/3 of a pound.
6. Reduce heat. Keep over low heat until finished serving.

Notes

This is the fondue pot we have and love.

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